CHAPTER XII. 



IRRIGATION OF FIELD CROPS. 



The application of water is the one thing important 

 in all irrigating operations and must receive the most 

 careful study and consideration. Every man must be 

 his own preceptor to a great degree, and it is only the 

 general rules that will be useful to him. The mechan- 

 ical part of the science of irrigation is easily learned and 

 quickly understood by the novice. There is a branch of 

 'the science, however, noc so quickly mastered, because 

 not fully understood by practical farmers the quantity 

 of water which any given grain or vegetable requires. 

 No fixed rule as to quantity can be given because the 

 nature of the soil, lay of the land and the season all tend 

 to modify the amount required. The relative amount, 

 however, can be ascertained with a fair degree of cer 

 tainty. Experience shows that it is easy to exceed the 

 quantity required by the crop, and that every excess is 

 injurious. Extravagance is the common fault, so much 

 so that the most successful irrigators are invariably those 

 who use the least water. Cultivation, too, is a primary 

 factor to the attainment of the fullest success in the 

 magic art, and on this account the writer is constrained 

 from time to time to digress from what may seem to be 

 the real text of the subject. 



The irrigator will find that new land requires more 

 water the first year than the second. Grain is irrigated 

 two, three or four times, according to circumstance. As 

 we have said before, the best results are scrmvd 1\ u.-inir 

 a moderate quantity of water. A Mexican irrigates four 



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